Jar-Burial Found in Tigranakert of Artsakh

During archaeological excavations along the northern walls of vof Artsakh, Armenian archaeologists discovered a jar-burial site, said the head of the expeditionary group Hamlet Petrosyan in an interview with the correspondent of NEWS.am.

The excavations were conducted under the direction of the dean of the history faculty at the Stepanakert State University Professor Vardges Safaryan.

According to Petrosyan, material stored in the earthenware demonstrates that the vessel dates back to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD, meaning that it is 300 years “younger” than the fortress of Tigranakert. Along with the corpse, the vessel contained arrows, beads, small horn-shaped jars, as well as golden adornments.

As Petrosyan explained, this type of burial was common at the time. Interestingly, such jar-burials are quite spread in the vicinity of Kura River. Such burial rites have been carried out up until the adoption of Christianity in Armenia in 301 AD.

Such burial sites are extremely rare north of the river. Some time ago, experts proposed a hypothesis that the spread of the jar-burials corresponds to the habitation area of Armenians.

“However, there haven’t been any in-depth investigations in this regard, and that’s why the finds similar to Tigranakert’s are of great importance,” said Petrosyan, remarking that earlier, archaeologists had already discovered a large number of jar-burials, most of which date back to the 1st century AD.

According to Petrosyan, Martakert Province of Artsakh is exceptionally rich in archaeological monuments. During laying works of water pipes several years ago, archaeologists discovered luxuriant burial sites. Today, all that material is safeguarded at the Museum of Tigranakert.

Some of the photos were taken from the Facebook page of Hamlet Petrosyan